DarthPutinKGB
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Yvonne Hampton, a 67-year-old school bus driver in Sumter County, Florida, was charged with reckless driving and 29 felony counts after ignoring warning lights and driving through a rail crossing as a train was coming.
The shocking incident took place on Apr. 2
According to a student who was in the bus at the time, Hampton told her passengers, "I am not going to stop for a train", before she drove across. The train clipped the rear of the bus but fortunately, no injuries were reported. Hampton, who had been a bus driver for the Sumter County School District for over 10 years, has since been dismissed.
unluckyandbored
Florida. Figures.
iWantedAcoolNameButTheyOnlyHadThisOne
bubaka
Thank God for the shitty music, otherwise i couldn't watch this 20 second video.
Teratoid
Fucking prison
rolliefingers
More fucking than in regular prison
Spoenk
I hope she gets more of a punishment than being dismissed... Clearly she hasn't attented anything higher than Sesame Street if she doesn't understand that in a fight between a train and a bus, a bus never comes out on top... Also, your most important and single job is to get those kids safely from A to B and vice versa and then to put your ignorant principles about "not stopping for a train' above that.. she needs to be taken out of society.
JBloodthorn
"News 6 confirmed that the driver of a Sumter County school bus carrying 29 kids and two adults, which was struck by a train last week, has been arrested on 29 counts of child neglect."
So 29 felony counts.
ReallyFastSloth
67 is to old to be driving a fucking school bus, wtf...
SleazyBijou
Terrible event and behavior. Would be surprised if the job pays more than $16/hr. Terrible hrs. Precious cargo.
notreallyaclevername
This is insane. I was a bus monitor and my sister in law is a driver. It might be State law, but in New York bus drivers have to treat all railroad tracks as a stop sign. And the company I worked for would penalize the driver if they were caught waiting less than 10 full seconds at the crossing. This rule included the railroad crossing that has been out of use since the 50s. It has tracks crossing a street so school buses had to stop.
This woman has no excuse.
PandaStonetree
Isn't this literally on a sign on the back of the bus? I believe ive seen is clearly say it stops at all railroad crossings or something.
TeelMoobeel
ahem... Florida
notreallyaclevername
Yes. Which is why I specified New York. It is a pro-life state (meaning that we have laws that try to support the well-being of living humans as much as possible, or at least by American standards), so we do tend to have stricter rules in general. But I think that was a federal regulation. But I don't really know for sure, so it certainly could just be a New York thing
Ree81
Dismissed? Not arrested? ... *reads link* Oh ok.
" According to Sumter County records, 67-year-old Yvonne Hampton was arrested Monday for the child neglect charges. "
AfterBurnerZero
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/epa-says-florida-has-most-lead-pipes-in-u-s
1wholurks
Normal Life in Florida
BerryButcher
it's actually quite common for bus drivers with lots of experience who are also over 60 to do stupid shit, high percentage suffers from desensitized syndrome.
Timpani
Why does the US not use barriers on level crossings? Is is some absurd bit of cost-cutting?
Laylah77
Unbelievable.
DrKonrad
"I am not going to stop for a train" WTF
xMalkav
When I was a kid, the driver would stop at the tracks and open the door to listen, just to be sure.
Detacheddavid
The train won't stop for her either.
igglebotato
Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me
sascottsn
Imagine being on that bus and the only emergency exit you can think to use is right into the path of the train...
I mean, I know they have emergency windows too, but as a kid, you likely aren't gonna remember that.
[deleted]
[deleted]
Eldis
School busses are, on avg, 10.5', so the drop from the window is much less thann 15'.
EMHPicardo
joot
The video shows at least one kid saying they were unable to get their seatbelt off. Imagine the terror of being stuck strapped in with a train bearing down on you. And dumbfuck bus driver is more worried about bumping the car in front than your body getting puréed.
Goodmerlinpeen
r/BitchImATrain
KremlinOfAges
oh shit this is a real subreddit... brb 30mins...
CammunistManifesto
100:1 odds she votes republican and says they need to ban trans women to "protect the kids"
SheldonCooperBSMSMAPSHandScDOMGright
"We used to get hit by trains all the time and we turned out ok, buncha SNOWFLAKES!" ~Yvonne, probably
Tarmaccian
Fun fact: Voter registrations are considered public record in Florida.
There is one Yvonne Hampton in Sumter County, and she is indeed registered with the Republican Party. I have no information on her views of relevant issues, however.
TzaraStrange
Thank you
cuttlefishsticks
I will say, as awful as her actions as a bus driver may have been, we cannot make assumptions from just party registration alone. Many states, Florida included, have closed primaries, meaning you cannot vote in the primary if you're not registered with that party. For general elections you get both parties as options anyway, but in a lot of counties you know the local reps are only a choice between shades of red. Better to have any voice in getting purpler shades than no voice at all.
damion20xx
Yes you do. I know it, you know it, everyone here knows it.
Tarmaccian
No, no, and fuck no, because indulging prejudice is how we got into our current fascist mess. Sure, you think you’re justified and it’s “just so obvious” and “the way those people are”, but that’s no excuse.
She has registered with the Republican Party. That is all that is public knowledge. Anything more is assumption.
KremlinOfAges
Shes pro life when she gets to be offended by shit? and *your* kids lives are optional?
PapaJoeNH
This is a result of "the law doesn't apply to me" mentality, which is all the rage these days
gronzilla
Not really. That logic is usually applied to things that only serve to protect *others* from injury
Kc0125
This is a result of boomer brains. These old humans can barely drive a small vehicle let alone a school bus.
ItsATrap
Look, I get that bus driver is totally at fault, not trying to pass blame, just making an observation here.
BUT, hey cross traffic, STOP!!! There's a bus full of kids about to be hit by a train, your right of way doesn't matter.
VodkaReindeer
Do you want them to stare at the tracks going parallel or do you want them to look in front of them?
ItsATrap
If you can't be aware of both things, you shouldn't be driving.
joepineapplesindrag
I feel like the deep ambient house beats added to the audio actually detract from the narrative.
Lvaneede
Reminds me of "The sound of children screaming has been removed"
Sticklebrickk
It's one of those ambient noises people add so you can focus on the story. You can still hear the original audio, and it's a lot better than that tictok sound
Badprenup
Because nothing helps people focus like multiple conflicting, overlapping audio tracks.
subnetmask
It might as well have been the benny hill theme song it is so out of context
VodkaReindeer
Also why weren't the screams of the children removed? Isn't that SOP?
TheGhostofElizabethShue
I’ll have you know that’s bbc news’s ambient house beats which they’ve been rocking for idk 15, 20 years? It’s always felt wildly inappropriate to me. News is trumpets.
joepineapplesindrag
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=YfqbwyHICRA&si=qH8pnkmYblylB80w
So I guess this is the aussie version?
hmijail
Lately it should be all kazoos.
thedarkcanuck
It's kind of a nice beat actually but like, maybe they don't have to use it on ALL the stories
CookiePiSmuggler
That’s still 5 felony charges less than the US president. By those standards she should be fine. 🤷♂️
Yasashii93
Also: imagine being the train driver and seeing a school bus full of kids you’re likely gonna hit and there’s nothing you can do about it. Must have been absolutely emotionally wrecking.
Kinksterino
As a locomotive engineer.. fuck this bus driver and every other driver that stops on the tracks
Groovechild
That's some Phantom 309 shit, right there. Only he can't turn the wheel.
RainierCamino
Right? Poor engineer was probably having a fucking meltdown.
CJAW
Also; imagine being a bystander next to the rail switch. You'd have the ability to switch the train onto different tracks to avoid the bus full of kids, but if you did, it would divert the train onto a track where one single child was playing, but had gotten their foot caught in the tracks.
EMHPicardo
unluckyandbored
I am told there are two kinds of train drivers. Drivers that have hit a vehicle, and drivers who haven't yet.
wejustdontknow
Exactly. I'd hang up my conductor hat and go into woodworking or something.
rolliefingers
I saw a cartoon where that exact thing happened one time.
SmergBlaerghl
The father of one of my schoolmates growing up, was a train driver who ran over and killed people on three separate occasions. Suicides/accidents. It completely wrecked him.
Aranon1183
Being a conductor has to be one of the most PTSD-inducing jobs when situations like this occur!
Detacheddavid
It was an emotional train wreck.
elbowdeepinawhateverthatis
Boo (+1 tho)
sheslikeheroin
My dad did that for 30ish years. There were a few incidents over the years, a couple people laying on they tracks, cars that stopped or tried to beat him to the intersection When i was little.he'd suddenly be home for a few weeks without explanation and be really quiet and reserved. Don't mess eith trains please.
StarscreamAndHutch
Ive seen statistically, every train engineer will be involved in a critical/fatal accident at work.
IHaveGreatKittenRecipes
Not a train engineer but a semi driver and yeah, that shit sticks with you. I'm almost 4 years out from the wreck I was in (fatality, not my fault, cleared at the scene) but jfc that cold frozen moment when it really clicks that this is now inevitable and physics has become your enemy still locks me up. And yes, I have a shrink and meds and all that fun stuff. Some shit you just don't un-feel.
TrueNorthernLights
My father drove heavy machinery on the highway for a number of years. He has some horrible stories.
unluckyandbored
I can't imagine what you have to go through. I'm glad you're getting the help you need.
brandonblk
im guessing its not fun when you are the unstoppable object and you know that
IHaveGreatKittenRecipes
Yeah I was on those brakes so hard I actually damaged two of the chains securing my load down, left skid marks even with ABS, but it wasn't gonna happen. 79k lbs doesn't stop on a dime and I was cruising at the speed limit for the road.
thedarkcanuck
Been there and done that 9 years ago. I was like 6 months into the job. I was just a witness, but it happened as a result of two cars trying to pass me at the same time on black ice. Couldn't get a girl out of her burning F250. I somehow let it take me until just this week to get out of driving. I can say that the trauma doesn't just go away on its own, no matter how hard you try to ignore it.
IHaveGreatKittenRecipes
Yeah I was 6 years in. Had a bit of a joke with my boss that everyone else be out here hitting deer and I had to go big. I managed another 2 and a half years out of stubborn need to prove a random statistic wrong, but after that... eh. The road isn't the same as it used to feel, ya know? Not an industry thing but it just became drudgery. I yard jockey now, boring work, but pays half decent, all the OT I can handle, and sleep in my own bed, and I'm not watching for that car over that hood.
thedarkcanuck
I wish there was a warehouse near me that needs full time shunters, but I'm not near any big distribution centres or anything like that. Shunting is actually the most fun I've ever had in this job. Nah man, I think the answer is to go back to school.
Mustang992
I am currently a yard jockey because someone didnt stop for a stop sign and I hit him going about 60 with a full load. Driver survived but he had a bad concussion. The parts that really stuck with me were hearing the impact (I dont remember actually seeing it happen) and when I called 911 nobody answered. It was the middle of nowhere and late at night. Luckily one of the unhurt passengers had the number for the local sheriff.
IHaveGreatKittenRecipes
Yard jokeys unite! That's what I do now. I managed another two and a half years (safety guy had this statistic that even not at fault drivers were like 6x more likely to have a second accident within 2 years of a fatality and I *had* to prove his ass wrong) and then hopped out of the truck. Miss that Mack (drove the same one after it was repaired!), sometimes miss the adventure, I do NOT miss fluctuating rates and the parking scramble and detention and TRAFFIC omg traffic.
Mustang992
I was a company driver just going between a few warehouses. It was an easy, well paying job but between the accident and always getting the short end of the stick (the lazy drivers figured out if they go slow they were more likely to go home, and some medical stuff. I got out when I could. It was a big pay cut but the hours are better
SlayerOfGoat
What the fuck? When did they start putting seatbelts on a school bus??
Jarjarthejedi
Depends on state. 8 states mandate them, Florida required them to be installed on all new school buses purchased after 2000. https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=316.6145&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.6145.html
MrsHowVeryDareYou
Why is she working at 67?? That’s the fucked up part - isn’t retirement age 65? If we cared for our elders, this wouldn’t have happened.
VodkaReindeer
lots of countries have it higher than 65
JergenHealing
I think the fucked up part is the bus driver nearly killing and traumatizing kids. Other ways to go about the issue. So I have no sympathy or compassion for her.
MrsHowVeryDareYou
In Chicagoland, our bus drivers have to come to a full and complete stop BEFORE crossing train tracks for this exact reason- every single time regardless of flashing red lights or not. It’s annoying, but apparently necessary.
JergenHealing
Beats killing kids.
Winnert
usa
igglebotato
65 isn't the age when you MUST retire, it's the age when you CAN retire and get a full pension. If you want to keep working—or need to keep working, because bills—nothing says you can't.
NKato
Except that none of us are getting a full pension at 65. Ever. So such retirement age stuff is nonsense thanks to both parties sucking the corpo dick.
MrsHowVeryDareYou
I understand that, my critique is that a 65 year old *should* receive enough from social security to not have to work - if for no other reason than avoiding situations like this.
Although our President *should* not be a serial child rapist, and yet…
pareidoliaperson
Y´all still working at 67??
BronyDanza
‘merica.
rolliefingers
That one kid standing closest to the back window where the freight train was barreling past, casually looking at his phone.
bbrtki
"Hey mom, we nearly got hit by a train, lol"
Apothecarius
Trying to text mom/dad he loves them before he gets killed by the bus driver
DdCno1
I've read that kids in America do this during "realistic" school shooting drills when nobody told them that they were just drills.
gronzilla
Quite the opposite. You can see someone hurrying back to get his backpack "to get out of the way" some 10-15s late. Reaction times. No way anyone could _already_ be texting anyone about it, let alone with proper outcome expectation.
rolliefingers
He was kind of stunned, you're saying. I can see how there might be a delayed reaction but my hot take is that phones create a sort of insulation from reality. Earbud in, too. I did a roofing job with earbuds in one time and it definitely gave me an emotional shield from the danger. So in accordance with the rules of social media I'm deciding that my anecdotal evidence is absolute truth that everyone needs to accept.
gronzilla
Couldn't agree more
rolliefingers
You are my finest pupil.
NotThatPrivate
Pretty fucking stupid, but also: WHY THE FUCK are there NO Crossing Gates on this intersection?
'Cause we don't do taxes in Florida, that's why. My fucking son could have bee on that bus.
Fuck Florida
NotThatPrivate
oh, and it isn't the only rail crossing without gates in Sumter County. FFS
KAPTKipper
Won't be surprised if the GOP made the railway exempt from putting them in
Copperbrat
This Xing has gates (photo). Reportedly, the driver ignore the signals and tried to beat the gate drop.
NotThatPrivate
hmm. I listened to the story as it happened on the radio and they said there wasn't a gate. I'll be annoyed if that wasn't the case. They specifically said it wasn't the only crossing without gates
Copperbrat
There was definitely at least a gate down on the eastbound lane. Photos taken immediately following the incident show it in the down position. After the tracks were cleared, a news crew was on the scene at that xing, and the signals and gates appeared fully operational. Additional reports say that the train also had video confirming that fact. The driver ran the signal and got stuck on the track behind traffic. All the kids said so.
Copperbrat
Anyhow I'm relieved to hear your family members weren't on that bus!
Copperbrat
BillHubbard
Eeuhm, why does that crossing not have automatic closing barriers and only warning lights? Proper countries install barriers at crossings.
dfairchild1216
Plus looks like a stop sign right after the tracks.
BillHubbard
Another bit of poor planning.
mindstorm8191
Busier crossing have the closing barriers.
There's a town here (where my wife grew up) that has a rail line running through it. There are no bars or lights at any crossing. Growing up near a rail line where trains regularly go 60mph, I found this... pretty terrifying. But I've seen one go through town (which is rare), they only go maybe 10-20mph. So you'll see them coming as you approach the crossing.
Trains are still companies, they don't want to pay a million to install dozens of barriers ->
mindstorm8191
for a seldom-used rail line, when they can simply go slowly through it instead.
Nathanyel
Whoever planned those streets should also be charged.
dohcohv
Rural areas usually don't have proper crossings. Places like Oklahoma and Kansas have mile line roads, dirt/paved roads every mile dividing the state into a grid. That is a crazy number of crossings with no one living nearby.
One big issue with crossings like the one in the video is a result of historical infrastructure. Highways were built following rail lines, which makes sense, but then crossings are very close to those highways. They get backed up and impatient drivers wait on the tracks.
ConfusedConda
When you get out in the country, there are thousands of crossings that don't even have lights. Just the crossbuck signs (the X signs).
LoquaciousDude
I've had crossings in denmark that dont have barriers. It depends very much on amount of traffic, a small road used by a couple cars per day, dont always have them.
genida
If it had enough room for a vehicle past the crossing, sure, maybe. As a train driver, the safety measures on this crossing are insufficient.
KleptoKea
That is terrifying. Poor kids! Glad they're physically safe but boy they must be traumatised from that.
VaxxedCanadian
Yeah, that kid standing as close as he can sure looks traumatised. But at least he got the video.
murderhobbit
So at that point the danger passed, so NOW it's a thrill. And he's clearly about to get additional vids or pics which could be used as evidence of the danger they were just in
KawaiiInari
You can literally hear kids screaming. And how someone reacts in a time of fear shouldn't be judged with bullshit eyes. They could have died and were fortunate to not. So please be quiet.
Musicosity
Also r/kidsarefuckingstupid
JergenHealing
Are we forgetting that people can freeze when faced with danger.
irrelevant18
No shit, developing brains. What's the seeming majority of the adult population's excuse?
Musicosity
Old software, new firmware.
UnattendedDeviant
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/04/04/school-bus-driver-cited-and-no-longer-employed-with-district-after-sumter-county-train-crash/
pinkmilkyway
“The train hit the back of the bus, and immediately your heart just starts to go kind of crazy,”
BarryTheCyborg
That's a quote from the witness, not the idiot driver
pinkmilkyway
Thank you, Capt. Obvious :)
Oatmealman1
Definitely a Republican
LicensedAdHominem
Someone under this post checked and yes, of course: /gallery/tHGkXeN/comment/2496879383
graehall
Seriously "I am not going to stop for a train" is peak idiot selfish, and with all those lives at risk too. Screams MAGA behaviour
Akule
“Not gonna stop for no train.” is the quote, which really underscores it.
AyatollahBahloni
Oh, she looks like a really choice specimen of humanity.
LicensedAdHominem
Almost manslaughtered 29 kids for no reason, but yeah, let's focus on her appearance instead. Fucking meat face haver. Goddamn time-dependent entity submerged in spacetime. How dare she have skin and age
joot
When 900 years old you reach, look so good you will not.
sadurdaynight
Mugshots are meant to make you look like shit, and that's the look of someone regretting the choice they made. 67 years old and still working and probably having a bad day with the kids. A bad choice was made, and it ended her career and puts her in jail. All bc she's forced to work instead of being retired.
JergenHealing
Still no compassion or empathy for her. I don't give a fucking fuck she still had to work and had a bad day. She could have killed multiple kids that day. Im glad her career ended and she is in jail. There's other ways to do something about the fact that she is 67 years old and still working. Not to risk multiple kids 'lives. She probably traumatized the kids too.
koalamonster
My sympathy for her left the ninute I read she specifically said she wasn't stopping for a train. I thought, hey, maybe the lights malfunctioned or something. But, nope, she knew it was coming and went over the tracks with no room and almost killed those kids.
Cthulhuchooseyou
You make a lot of assumptions.